Get the weekly report

Ed’s Up!

Musician and resident adventurer Ed Robertson gears up for another high-flying season of Ed’s Up premiering Sunday, March 8 on OLN.

“We’re delighted to have a new season of Ed’s Up back on OLN,” says Alain Strati, Vice President of Specialty Television and Development, Rogers Media Television. “Ed Robertson is a multi-talented guy, and the show reflects the adventurous nature of our channel, and of our audience.”

This season Ed explores his own emotional and physical limits as he ventures to far off countries to experience some of the world’s most difficult jobs. Each episode sees Ed landing in a different town meeting a new boss and facing a new challenge. Watch as Ed connects with grade six students in a Jamaican school and tries his hand at coffee farming, takes to the streets of London as a push bike courier, navigates the Alberta tar sands as a Fort McMurray mechanic, learns how to dispose of human remains and more. Ed takes it all in stride with his trademark Canadian charm and down-to-earth attitude.

Over the past two season’s Ed had logged some serious flight-time in his Cessna airplane, crossing North America and taking on a series of on-the-job challenges and performing some skillful water landings in his new floatplane. From the army to the CFL, from a New York City Hospital to a NASCAR pit and an Alberta slaughter house, you might say Ed has done it all!

They may be tough jobs but somebody’s gotta do ‘em! Catch the third season of Ed’s Up Sunday March 8 at 8pm ET/PT.

Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies is once again leaving his cozy tour bus and gearing up for adventure as production is currently under way on Season 3 of the original OLN series Ed’s Up!.

This summer, 13 half-hour episodes are being shot for broadcast in Fall 2008 in Canada on OLN. The second half of production on the new season is going international with filming set to begin this week in Jamaica and the U.K.

“OLN is thrilled that Ed’s Up! continues to evolve each season,” said Patrice Baillargeon, Executive Producer, OLN. “As Ed flies to destinations beyond Canada and the continental U.S., viewers will get a chance to follow him to places where the locations themselves will become an integral part of the storylines.”

Throughout Season 1, Robertson began logging flight-time in his Cessna airplane, crossing Canada to tackle a series of on-the-job challenges: working with the army, ranchers in Alberta and a CFL football team. Then, in Season 2, jobs got tougher — and wetter — as Robertson took advantage of his new floatplane license by making water landings all over Canada and the U.S. He worked in a New York City hospital ER, a Canadian Air Force boot camp and a Chicago slaughterhouse. Through it all, the Canadian rock star learned how hard the work-a-day life could be as he took on the toughest of jobs with his trademark good humour and down-to-earth attitude.

“He’s a tough guy to crack, that Ed!” laughs Les Tomlin, president and Executive Producer of Peace Point Entertainment Group. “He rises to almost every occasion. We’ve only been able to break him a couple of times!”

As Season 3 of the hit OLN series moves production overseas, Tomlin explains that the workplace challenges awaiting Robertson this time around are as much mental as physical. “There’s more of an emotional connection with the people he’s working with,” says Tomlin, notably when the rock star goes to teach at a school in Jamaica. “This’ll be the first time that the show goes off the North American continent,” Tomlin explains, “The idea is to really take him out of his North American element and see how he survives.”

From working as a coffee farmer in Jamaica to joining a sailing crew as they cross the Irish Channel on their way to Liverpool, Robertson will log over 16,000 kilometres in his plane. But the most important journey for the musician will be exploring his own emotional and physical limits, learning a new respect for the people who grapple with some of the world’s most difficult jobs.

Working again with producer Craig Fleming, Robertson and the crew are racing to complete filming before he’s due back in the recording studio in mid-July to work on the next Barenaked Ladies album.

Robertson is a co-founding member of the band Barenaked Ladies and plays guitar, sings, writes, raps, drums – and flies! The band has sold over 12 million records, achieved a U.S. number one single, and received two Grammy nominations and seven Juno Awards. As an actor, Robertson has appeared in the films Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle; The Wrong Guy; Love, Sex, and Eating the Bones; and such TV shows as Charmed; 2 Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Joint; MadTV; and Dennis Leary’s Merry @@$$%@ Christmas.

Barenaked Lady Takes to the Skies – Again – When Season Two of “Ed’s Up!” Takes Off November 7 on OLN

Get a front row seat as an iconic Canadian rock star comes down to Earth to try everyday jobs in season two of the hit series “Ed’s Up!” Beginning Wed., Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT on OLN, Ed Robertson, co-founding member of The Barenaked Ladies, sets out to try jobs he’s never dreamed of doing…and some that he has. This season, Robertson, an avid recreational pilot, must once again land his Cessna plane near the location of each of his new tasks. Easy enough, right? The catch this time around is that Robertson has to land on the closest body of water to his mystery location. With floats now added to his plane, Robertson takes to the skies and jets to various cities across North America to tackle some of the grossest and most exhilarating jobs imaginable.

From scrubbing feces off a bathroom wall to demonstrating his flying chops with the Canadian Air Force, this rock star has his work cut out for him in each half-hour episode of the 13-part series. With his newly acquired floatplane license, Robertson not only tries to prove he’s up for any task but also that he is able to do “real life” jobs – good and bad. Find out what Robertson really thinks about each task when he vents his true feelings in candid “confessionals” throughout the series. Not only does he shed light on the task at hand, but also shares his newfound respect for the committed individuals who are dedicated to their work no matter how dangerous…or dirty. More than just earning bragging rights for sticking out some seriously challenging tasks, it’s what Robertson learns about himself that makes this the ultimate ride.

Highlights from the first episodes include:

“Ed’s Up!” – Brooklyn Hospital Cleaning”

Wed., Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT

In the season opener, Robertson is spirited away to a Brooklyn hospital where he is given his first job of the series – cleaning a busy emergency room. A day’s work here is a world tour of cleaning, disinfecting and more cleaning. His first task? Cleaning a restroom – walls and ceilings covered in human effluent of all varieties. Will Robertson be able to overcome his squeamish tendencies, especially when he mops up blood in a delivery room and views dead bodies in the hospital morgue?

“Ed’s Up!” – Lake Charles Alligator Biologist

Wed., Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT

In this episode of “Ed’s Up!,” Robertson heads off to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to work with alligator biologists. His day begins with cleaning a tank housing baby alligators. Their size is no match for their smell as he quickly reacts to the powerful aroma. After gaining a little confidence, Robertson helps the researchers extract blood samples from the adults to test the serum against deadly flesh-eating viruses. Then, for a little fun, the group heads to the dark swamps in the middle of the night to gather wild gators and rob them of their blood for testing.

“Ed’s Up!” – Galveston Oil Rig Repair

Wed., Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT

Galveston, on the Gulf Coast of Texas, is a remote wasteland of giant equipment and migrant workers. Robertson joins the mechanic crew fixing and retrofitting massive oil rigs, but quickly learns his sense of humour isn’t appreciated right away. In fact, his new boss has little time for jokes from the pampered rock star. The heat and scale of the operation has Robertson quickly sweating buckets…and it’s not even lunch yet!

“Ed’s Up!” – Chicago Abattoir

Wed., Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT

Robertson eats meat and is proud of it, but can he hack it in a slaughterhouse? Processing more than 2,500 pigs a day, Robertson’s new employer has very little time to explain all the technical elements of the job. What happens when Robertson get his hands dirty and figures it all out for himself?